Persephone wrapped her f ingers around mine. “You should be glad he doesn’t. When he looks at me, he hurts.
But when he sees you…” She smiled faintly. “He has hope.
I’m not surprised you don’t notice it. It took me a while to read him, too. I spent thousands of years with him though, and I know that look. I saw it the day we got married. You don’t forget the f irst time someone looks at you like that.” I bit my lip. I wanted to believe her. Badly. She did know Henry; she gained nothing by lying to me, and if there was any chance she was being honest, I had to take it. “How do I do this? How do I get him to love me?”
“Just be you.” Persephone patted my hand and stood. “It won’t take him long to see what he has. I’m going to go.”
“All right.” I pushed my hair behind my ears. “I’ll probably see you before I leave.”
“You won’t.” She smiled brief ly, and in that moment, she looked so much like our mother that I did a double take.
“I’m leaving as soon as the meeting’s over. I’ve stayed here long enough, and as fun as it’s been battling Cronus, I miss Adonis. I’ll be back if they need me,” she added. “Until then, I’m going home.”
“Oh.” Relief washed over me, followed immediately by guilt. As terrible as things had been in the beginning and as much as I wanted to hate her for what she’d done with Henry, she was trying. And she was still my sister. “Thank you. For everything.”
“Anytime.” She set her hand on the door, but before she opened it, she hesitated. “You can come visit me, if you want. I’d like that. I’ve never had a real sister before, and it’d be nice to get to know you. As much as I love Adonis, sometimes he can be a little…monotonous.” I managed a small smile. Somehow that didn’t surprise me. “I’d like that, too. I’m sorry I barged in on you and disrupted your afterlife like that.”
“I’m not.” She winked and disappeared back into the throne room.
The door swung shut, muff ling the council’s bickering once more. I still wasn’t sure how I felt about Persephone, but at least now we would have the chance to get to know each other on our own terms. If I survived.
An hour later, I’d strewn half my closet across the bed, and Pogo was buried underneath a pile of sweaters. I didn’t know where Ava and I would be going, so I had to prepare for any possibility. Where did a Titan stay without being noticed anyway? Up on a mountain somewhere? Antarctica?
The Sahara desert? Either way, the possibilities were endless and not very promising, which meant I had to be ready for anything.
“Think you can put up with missing me for another few months?” I said as Pogo dug himself out. My clothes would smell like puppy now, but I didn’t care. It would be a nice reminder of him when I was lonely.
He let out a soft yip, and I grinned in spite of myself.
“He will miss you,” said a voice behind me. Startled, I dropped the boots I was stuff ing into the only suitcase I could f ind.
I’d expected him to stay away, but there he was, his shoulders squared and his eyes stormy.
Henry.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
ROCK ED
My mouth went dry, and I picked up the boots and tossed them on the bed. I’d been so convinced that he wouldn’t want anything else to do with me that I hadn’t bothered to think about what to say. I had no real reason to apologize, except for maybe calling him out in front of everyone, but that was the only part I regretted.
“I’m sorry about the mess, I was just—”
“Packing. Yes, I see that.” He waved a hand, and my already overstuffed suitcase seemed to empty. When I opened my mouth to protest, I saw that he hadn’t made anything vanish; the suitcase had only gotten deeper. “Is this a bad time?”
The last thing I wanted was to f ight with him, but I couldn’t very well leave the Underworld before f inishing this one way or the other. “I have a few minutes,” I said, folding a pair of jeans. “What was all of the arguing about?” The corner of Henry’s mouth twitched with annoyance.
“What you might expect. Diana was not pleased with me, and neither was Walter. I suspect that despite our earlier discussion, you are not, either.”
I considered lying, but it wouldn’t do any good. “No, I’m not,” I said. “We never—f igured it out. But I don’t want to be the person who tries to force you to feel something you don’t. I meant what I said. I won’t leave you unless you don’t want me here anymore.”
“I wish for you to stay, yet here you are, packing three months early,” he said quietly, and I stopped.
“You know why,” I mumbled. “I’ll be back as soon as I find Rhea.”
“For how long?”
I gently extracted the boot I’d dropped from Pogo’s mouth. “As long as you’ll have me.”
“That will be for a very long time.”
I exhaled and smiled, feeling as if a weight were lifted off my chest. “Good.”
He stepped toward me and touched my cheek. “I enjoy seeing you smile. It means I have done something right. I am afraid that sometimes I cannot tell.”
“It’s okay.” I tilted my head into his hand. He cupped my face and brushed his thumb against my jaw. “Persephone told me that you said it wasn’t as good as you expected.
When she kissed you, I mean.”
Something f lickered behind his eyes, but it was gone so fast that I couldn’t tell what it was. “No, it was not. I f ind little joy in showing affection to someone who does not return it.”
“Yeah, me, too.” I covered his hand with mine and pressed my lips against his palm. “It hurts being the one who loves more.”
Henry stepped closer so our bodies were only inches apart. Despite the warmth that radiated from him, I shivered. “If I had been unchained, I would have ripped Calliope to pieces in the cavern. Had Walter allowed me, I would have done it the moment I had her alone in the palace.”
I snorted softly. “Is that supposed to be romantic?”
“It is supposed to be the truth.” He stared at me, and my breath caught in my throat. “If I were a better man, I would be able to show you the love and affection you deserve. As I am not, I can only offer you what I am capable of giving.
But I assure you, just because I do not show it doesn’t mean I do not feel it.”